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Month: January 2022
Honor A. P.’s First Reported Foal Born in Louisiana
The filly was bred by Coteau Grove Farms out of stakes winner Joanie’s Catch.
Lane’s End’s grade 1 winner Honor A. P. sired his first reported foal Jan. 27 at Coteau Grove Farms near Sunset, La. Bred by Coteau Grove, the filly is out of multiple graded-placed stakes winner Joanie’s Catch .
“The resemblance of this filly to her sire is uncanny, right down to her four white socks,” said Andrew Cary, Coteau Grove Farms’ bloodstock adviser. “There is no doubt about who her sire is. Honor A. P. was right up there with the best of his generation, and we likely only saw a fraction of what he was capable of. We have two more mares due to foal to Honor A. P., including a mare who produced a $400,000 Saratoga yearling for us.”
“This filly is really nice, she has good size and a great shape to her with a beautiful head,” said Coteau Grove’s broodmare manager Jacob Cyprian
Mating Plans: Coteau Grove Farms
With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders’ mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Andrew Cary, bloodstock agent for Coteau Grove Farms.
First Foals Arrive by Imperial Hint
Clear Creek Stud announces arrival of two foals by the son of Imperialism.


The first reported foals by multiple grade 1 winner Imperial Hint have arrived, according to Clear Creek Stud.
Kevin Atwood’s Colonel Thoroughbreds bred a bay colt, which is the third foal out of the Artie Schiller mare Silent Brigade, whose first foal just turned 2.
Tommy Hewett’s Coulee Croche Thoroughbreds and Tracie Crochet bred a gray filly (that appears black) out of the Najran mare Brushfirefairytale , a winner of $118,632 and the dam of Jolie Gris, who scored on debut in September.
Bred in Florida by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds out of the Lahint mare Royal Hint and campaigned by Raymond Mamone, Imperial Hint is a four-time grade 1 winner of in excess of $2.2 million. Nicknamed “The Little Rocket,” the son of Imperialism took the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and the Vosburgh Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in 2018 and defended his title in both races in 2019 for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. In the 2019 edition of the Alfred G. Vanderbilt, he set a track record for six furlongs in 1:07.92. He retired from racing with a 14-2-4 record from 25 starts.
Imperial Hint was bred to both Thoroughbred mares and Quarter Horse mares in 2021. He stands at Clear Creek Stud near Folsom, La. as the property of a syndicate for an advertised fee of $3,000 live foal.
Extreme Cold Forces Oaklawn To Cancel Racing, Training On Friday
Due to extreme cold temperatures in the region, Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. will cancel training and racing on Friday, Jan. 21.
The National Weather Service predicts temperatures as low as 16 degrees (F) on Thursday night, with a high of just 35 on Friday. Wind chills on Friday could be as low as 7.
According to the track’s Twitter feed, the goal is to resume racing and training on Saturday, Jan. 22, with post time Saturday afternoon moved to a 1:00 PM (Central) start time.
Normal schedules are expected to resume on Sunday, Jan. 23.
Fix to Delta’s Light Woes Might Not Arrive by End of Meet
By T. D. Thornton
A new lighting system at Delta Downs that was only operational for three races on the first night of the season back in October and has been repeatedly tweaked since then might not end up being deemed safe or usable for racing by the time the current Thoroughbred meet ends Mar. 5.
Ironically, after more than three months of debate over alleged shadows and perceived inconsistencies with how the patterns fall on the racing surface, the lighting installer and a consulting firm retained by Delta are now trying to rectify the problem not by increasing candlepower, but by actually turning down the intensity of the lighting from about 90% of full illumination to around 60% on each of the poles around the six-furlong track.
Fair Grounds Not Definite on Dates Reduction
By T. D. Thornton
Jason Boulet, the Fair Grounds director of racing, was repeatedly pressed by Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) member Tom Calvert Tuesday about whether or not his track would once again seek a statutory change to reduce its required number of race dates from 80 to 75 when the state legislature convenes its 2022 session Mar. 14.
The exchange did not yield a definitive answer beyond Boulet’s disclosure that the Fair Grounds and its corporate parent, the gaming firm Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), would be in favor of participating in discussions among stakeholders that might reduce race dates in Louisiana with the goal of making it easier to fill entries at the state’s four Thoroughbred tracks.
The dates statute wasn’t on the agenda for the Jan. 18 LSRC meeting. But Calvert brought it up after Boulet reported that so far through the November-through-March meet, the number of starters per Fair Grounds race has dipped from 8.3 to 7.6 in a year-over-year comparison, a decrease Boulet termed “alarming.”
Strike Power to Enter Stud at Red River Farms
Grade 3 winner by Speightstown will stand for $2,000.
A partnership recently closed on a deal to buy multiple graded-placed, grade 3 winner Strike Power , who will enter stud at Red River Farms near Coushatta, La. The 7-year-old son of Speightstown will stand for $2,000 with a stands and nurses guarantee.
“It’s a bit late but we think we’ll get a good first book of mares to him,” said Jay Adcock with Red River Farms. “Being by Speightstown and running a 102 Beyer in his first start were the first things that got our attention. Then he showed he could run two turns in the Fountain of Youth.”
A homebred for Don and Donna Adam’s Courtlandt Farm, Strike Power won his debut at 2 at Gulfstream Park by eight lengths with trainer Mark Hennig. At 3, he started off by winning the Swale Stakes (G3) and was second in the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) to Promises Fulfilled . He would go on to place second in two more graded stakes with both Hennig and trainer Steve Asmussen, the True North Stakes (G2) and Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes (G3), respectively. Strike Power retired with a 4-4-1 record from 20 starts and earned $497,935.
2019 Death of Cigar Mile Winner Lion Tamer Reported

Lion Tamer, winner of the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack in 2004, died in Jamaica at age 19 on September 3, 2019, due to a heart attack. The chestnut son of Will’s Way had been standing stud at Orange Valley Estates in Trelawny, Jamaica since 2017 after standing for nine seasons at Clear Creek Stud in Louisiana.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Michael Tabor, Lion Tamer was ridden by Jose Santos to be the upset 12-1 winner of the 2004 Cigar Mile by 1 1/4 lengths over multiple graded stakes-winner Badge of Silver in a final time of 1:33.46.
Lion Tamer earned three other graded victories in his career, taking a trio of Grade 2’s with wins in the Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park as a sophomore and the Richter Scale Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Gulfstream and Commonwealth Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland as a 4-year-old.
Lion Tamer also added two other Grade 1 placings to his resume at 5, finishing third in the Vosburgh and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, both at Belmont Park. Lion Tamer wrapped up his career with earnings of $1,000,727 and a consistent record of 8-3-2 from 20 lifetime starts.
At the time of his retirement to stud, Lion Tamer was the only millionaire standing in Louisiana, attracting the attention of breeders and covering 34 mares in his first year at Clear Creek. From nine American crops, Lion Tamer’s top progeny include multiple stakes winner Heavy on Themister, stakes winner Win Lion Win, and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Southern Dude.
In January of 2017, Lion Tamer was transferred to Orange Valley Estates where he stood for three seasons prior to his death. His Jamaican crops include 3-year-old filly Golden Wattle, who defeated males to win Jamaica’s richest juvenile race, the Supreme Ventures Jamaica 2-Year-Old [JM $4 million], on December 27.
Lion Tamer bred 20 mares in his final year at stud, producing a handful of foals that are now 2-year-olds working towards their debuts.
Out of the stakes-placed Olympio mare Tippecanoe Creek, Lion Tamer was bred in Kentucky by Paul Smith.
Texas Racing Commission Suspends Hair Drug Testing
Hair testing in racehorses began last May in Texas.
The Texas Racing Commission has suspended hair testing of racehorses in the state, the regulator announced Jan. 14.
Amy Cook, executive director of the TRC, wrote in an email to BloodHorse that the move was “a response to the concerns raised by Texas Horsemen’s Partnership that needed to be addressed.” She noted that “specifically, the way the commission implemented the hair testing procedure in May 2021 did not provide adequate notice and transparent procedures to participants.”
Along with existing blood and urine testing, some tracks, organizations, and regulators have added hair testing in recent years. In Texas, shortly after hair testing began last May, the Sam Houston Futurity for Quarter Horses was run as a non-wagering event after the majority of the 10 finalists failed hair tests for either albuterol or clenbuterol.
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